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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29127012">Where Does Love Begin Because I Can’t Tell</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/amiok/pseuds/amiok'>amiok</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Criminal Minds (US TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>#writersblock, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, F/F, F/M, High School, How Do I Tag, M/M, THIS IS A THING, angst as in you don’t want to talk to Spence angst, broo I won’t lie, ik, major angst, posting this bc no one wants to read it on quotev even tho I have one chapter, this makes me stay up at 3 am</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:48:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,045</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29127012</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/amiok/pseuds/amiok</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek and Spencer’s friend groups decide to walk together one day in the halls and it sparks questions.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aaron Hotchner &amp; Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, Aaron Hotchner/Original Female Character(s), Derek Morgan/Ashley Seaver, Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid, Elle Greenaway &amp; Spencer Reid, Elle Greenaway/Spencer Reid, Emily Prentiss &amp; Spencer Reid, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau &amp; Spencer Reid, Jennifer Jareau/Original Male Character(s), Kate Callahan &amp; Spencer Reid, Luke Alvez &amp; Derek Morgan, Maxine "Max" Brenner/Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia &amp; Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia/Emily Prentiss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Need to knows</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Don’t ask. But if you feel I’m portraying anything wrong, feel free to message me on quotev @ ilyeveniftheywont! ✨❤️✨</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>(You’ll probs think that I’m like illiterate after this, but I promise you, I’ll try not to be during the actual story...) 
Friend Group A- 

Spencer 
Penelope 
JJ 

Have been friends for years. They are the gay/bi kids who don’t fit in with the gay/bi kids in 2020. Sophomores. 
Friend Group B- 

Emily 
Derek 
Aaron 

Friends since they started High School. Em and Derek moved to D.C. together and Hotch didn’t have any friends except David, who was a senior, so they kinda meshed well. Juniors. 

Friend Group Rossi- 

David 

Has a lot of friends but won’t stick with just one group. Best friend is Aaron. Senior. 

Friend groups came together because of Derek and Spencer. They had all known of each other’s existence since the previous year, but when Derek and Spencer were paired up for a project in biology, things escalated. They got together(we will see things before and after the school knew) 

Derek- Star quarterback for the D.C. Dukes(i made that up). Bi. Dad died the way he did in canon.

 Emily- You’ll see. Very lesbian. Not close with her parents at all. Dad is not present. Her mom doesn’t care. 

Aaron- Bi. Father is abusive to everyone in the household. Goes over to JJ’s and Spencer’s and Derek’s a lot. 

Spencer- Bi, smartie bitchhhh. His dad left him but comes back every couple weeks bc he put Diana in the Sanatorium, leaving Spence alone in the house. 

JJ- Bi, kind of smart, soccer superstar. Roz died same way she did in canon. 

Pen- She’s a bubbly bitchhhh, Bi, very much wants to be around people at all times. 

David- Bi. Mom of the group. Dad is died in the war.(don’t ask which one) 

Relationships- 

DerekxSpencer

 EmilyxPenelope 
JJxOC + JJxOC2
 AaronxOC3 
DavidxKrystall
 SpencerxMax 
Brief SpencerxElle 
Friendships(the ones I will be focusing on) 
Derek and Emily 
Emily and Spencer 
Penelope and Derek 
David and Aaron 
Aaron and JJ 
JJ and Spencer</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Are Derek and Spencer dating? We’ll soon find out!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Walking through the halls on a Monday morning with Sophomores was something unknown to the three Juniors, Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan, and Aaron Hotchner. This was also new to the Sophomores with them; Spencer Reid, Jennifer “JJ” Jareau, and Penelope Garcia. The Juniors were popular and everyone wanted to be friends with them, the Sophomores, on the other hand, were the weird kids who people made fun of. No one could tell why they were together, but if you looked close enough you could see what was happening. Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid’s pinkies were intertwined. They made sure to conceal it as best they could, but it wasn’t working out so well because by the end of the day, the entire student body was guessing whether or not they were together.</p><p>The more the week went on, the more evidence the student body had to present that they were together. Exhibit A; Tuesday morning, Spencer Reid was seen in the passenger in Derek’s pick-up truck. Exhibit B; Wednesday afternoon, during football practice in the warm afternoon, Spencer Reid was seen waiting for and watching Derek Morgan be the kickass quarterback he is. After practice, Derek hurried on after him and gave him a hug(but if you looked close enough, you could see Derek kiss Spencer’s cheek). Exhibit C; Thursday afternoon, they were seen in a park with Derek’s little sister, Desirée, watching her with her friends. Derek’s arm was slung lazily across the skinny frame of Spencer’s shoulders. Exhibit D; Friday night, they were spotted making out(Emily caught them because her and JJ were third wheeling and she would never tell, so his isn’t really adding to the investigation taken up by all the students) behind a movie theater.</p><p>The week was there and was gone in the blink of an eye. The next Monday came and melted into the early afternoon. The mark of football practice. One of the star lineman looked to the bleachers to see Spencer standing there on his phone texting someone, probably the group chat with JJ and Penelope, and rose an eyebrow. This person’s name was Hayden Woods. Hayden had known about Derek’s sexuality since freshman year, though he had also known the Derek was more attracted to women than men, ‘but with the right man,’ Derek had told him, ‘any bisexual can be easily swayed.’ Hayden had also known about all the rumors of Spencer and Derek’s new ‘friendship’ had sparked. Everyone had them nailed nine ways to Sunday, they only needed a confession from one of the boys. The thing was, no one knew if either of them was ready to say it.</p><p>Hayden started to walk up to Derek. Derek smiled brightly at Hayden, then looked behind him and smiled brighter as he saw Spencer. Hayden’s words snapped him out of his trance, and into real life once more. “Are you and Spencer dating?” Hayden asked.</p><p>”Yeah” </p><p>“That’s it? No, I’m gonna try to hide it for a little while longer, or we’re just friends?” Hayden asked.</p><p>”What do you mean?” Derek said as he grabbed his water and started drinking it.</p><p>”So you and him haven’t been trying to hide it?” He asked the quarterback.</p><p>”No..?” Derek said weirdly.</p><p>Luke Alvez, the one of the starting linemen on the team, approached them, having heard everything, and seen Spencer. He and Spencer were in the same grade and were considered acquaintances. Luke was one of the only Sophomores who liked the group of friends. </p><p>“So you and Pretty Boy Spence never tried to hide anything? Bullshit.” Luke said. He was one of the people who saw their (not well) hidden pinky fingers intertwined. </p><p>“Luke, who invited you into this conversation?” Derek asked with a teasing smile on his face.</p><p>”I did.” Luke told him. “Now I need the truth, lay it on me.” </p><p>“What he said.” Hayden told Derek as the latter turned to him.</p><p>”Em introduced us, and we got paired for a biology project. That’s it, no more!” Derek said as he wiped his sweaty face off with a washcloth.</p><p>”You gotta give us more than that, Der!” Luke yelled after him, as Derek was going into the locker room to get changed into his school clothes before driving Spencer home.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I can’t figure out AO3 rn. I’m trying to create spacing but I rlly can’t. Plz send help</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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